There's Something About Harry
by starstrucked
Summary: When Chakotay and Seven's relationship ends 3.7 hours after Voyager's return, Seven decides she is interested romantically in Harry Kim. The question is, is he still interested in her? More pressing, is Tom willing to help Seven win fair Harry's heart?
1. In which Seven confronts Tom

Title: There's Something About Harry Author: starstruck Rating: PG-13 for later chapters Pairings: K/7, P/T, some J/C  
  
Author's Note: My Voyager obsession is back. I went two months without watching Voyager (isn't that horrible?), and then, all of a sudden, I'm obsessed again.  
  
Anyway, as an avid K/7er, I'm disappointed by the lack of K/7 endgame- fixes. I've heard people say that Seven needed to be with Chakotay before Harry, but alas. we have many J/C fix-its and no K/7 ones.  
  
Truthfully, though, I've never written a K/7 story before. P/T is my primary pairing, but I just felt... compelled to write this.  
  
Anyway, I'm sure it's a leetle bit farfetched, but just give it a try. I tried to keep the characterization on, so that's... good?  
  
&&  
  
It had taken four hours to convince the Doctor to let Tom take B'Elanna and Miral home. And practically as soon as she had gotten into bed, B'Elanna had gone to sleep, leaving Tom alone with his newborn daughter.  
  
And then she started crying.  
  
Even after months of preparing to become a father, the noise still made Tom jump. Still, he had been trained well, and he checked to see if she was hungry, cold, or dirty.  
  
She wasn't.  
  
So Tom resorted to the only other thing he could think of - pacing the halls with his yelling daughter. And it worked fairly well - she was calmer.  
  
Still, it was a little surreal, carrying a whimpering baby back and forth in front of his quarters, watching various Voyager crewmembers and Starfleet visitors pass by. After seven years on Voyager, anything unusual was the norm, so the Voyager crew tended to just give Tom a smile as they passed by, or if they were off duty, stop and meet the baby, but the Starfleet diplomats were obviously ruffled upon seeing Tom and Miral pacing the halls. In any other situation, Tom would've laughed at their expressions, but he was still finding his daddy legs (as the doctor so aptly put it), making his primary concern his daughter's only slightly diminished wails.  
  
Alpha shift had been over for a few hours, and only Harry had been down to meet Miral, which Tom found distinctly odd. He supposed Tuvok was getting prepared for the fal'tor'voh, but still, he would've expected Chakotay to come meet Miral, he had been in contention for godfather. And he and B'Elanna had been friends for a long time. And the Captain - well, he had expected her to visit them, but he supposed that was a bit presumptuous of him, considering they had just arrived in the Alpha Quadrant. And Seven...  
  
...was striding right towards him.  
  
That was kind of odd.  
  
"Lieutenant Paris."  
  
"Yeah, Seven?"  
  
"I wish to speak to you," said Seven impassively as she fell into step next to him.  
  
"Okay," said Tom, a little bewildered. He had been expecting Seven to come to see Miral, not him.  
  
"You are Ensign Kim's... best... friend," she said, spitting out the last words as if they were some vile poison.  
  
"Yeah..." said Tom, wondering what she was on about.  
  
"I wish to acquire more information on the subject of Ensign Kim," said Seven.  
  
"I wish to inquire where the hell this conversation is going," replied Tom.  
  
Seven took a deep breath.  
  
"As of late, I find myself... interested... in Ensign Kim," said Seven.  
  
Tom blinked.  
  
"Romantically," added Seven.  
  
"What happened to Chakotay?" said Tom, confused.  
  
"We mutually decided to continue our relationship as... friends," said Seven after a slight pause.  
  
"In other words, you dumped him on his ass," said Tom, unable to hide a grin at Seven's uncharacteristic indirectness.  
  
Another pause.  
  
"Yes," confirmed Seven.  
  
"Don't you think that's a little... harsh, Seven?" inquired Tom.  
  
"No," said Seven. "I believe it is the correct choice. Voyager has returned to the Alpha Quadrant, and he is now free to pursue a relationship with Captain Janeway. To continue our relationship would be more... harsh."  
  
Tom grinned. Ha. So Seven agreed with him. Maybe he wasn't as hopeless a romantic as Harry and B'Elanna made him out to be.  
  
"Lieutenant Paris?"  
  
"Wait, Seven. Let me get this straight. You decided you wanted to explore human behavior and... date someone. So you choose Chakotay. But we get back to the Alpha Quadrant and you decide it would be inappropriate to continue your relationship. So two hours after your tragic breakup - "  
  
"Three point seven," corrected Seven.  
  
"Three point seven hours after your breakup," said Tom, "you decide you're interested - romantically - in Harry. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that sounds like Harry's just a second choice. And I don't think that's fair to Harry."  
  
"Your recollection of the events is not complete," said Seven. "While I was considering crewmembers for my... relationship... Ensign Kim was my primary candidate. However, I was discussing the matter with Mr. Neelix - and he was able to persuade me otherwise. He believed that Commander Chakotay would be a better choice."  
  
"Wait - you went with Chakotay instead of Harry because Neelix told you to?"  
  
"Mr. Neelix was very kind to me during his time on this ship," said Seven. "I saw no reason not to accept his advice."  
  
"Look, Seven - Neelix is a great guy, and he's got his heart in the right place," began Tom. "But he's not... he doesn't... he has a very bad feel for what relationships would work well."  
  
"Explain," said Seven, tilting her head to the side.  
  
"There's no - explanation," said Tom. "You just don't take romantic advice from Neelix."  
  
Seven seemed about to question this, but thought otherwise.  
  
"I... understand," she said.  
  
"Good," said Tom. "But I still don't see why I should believe your interest in Harry is genuine."  
  
"I assure you," said Seven, "As much as I wish I were not, I am indeed romantically interested in Ensign Kim. If I were not, there would be no reason to pursue him. Now that we are in the Alpha Quadrant, my spectrum of potential partners had widened considerably."  
  
"No kidding," said Tom. "But why Harry? Why not... the Doctor? He'd be interested, certainly."  
  
"I am... uncertain... as to why Ensign Kim is my primary choice."  
  
Really, it was that answer that reassured Tom more than anything. After all, did anyone ever choose who they had a crush on? Harry was a prime example. A hologram, the wrong twin, a terrorist, a dead crewmember , an ex-borg - only, now, it appeared that the ex-borg was back for round two.  
  
"Okay," sighed Tom. "I'll help you, Seven. But this is going to be on my terms." 


	2. In which Tom interrogates Harry

There's Something About Harry Chapter Two By starstruck  
  
Author's Note: Meh. I don't like this chapter as much =\ It's more of a set-up for things to come than it is interesting to me. But oh well.  
  
&&  
  
Ha.  
  
Harry was off-duty.  
  
For what felt like the first time in five days.  
  
"Paris to Kim."  
  
"Whaddya want, Tom?" said Harry instinctively.  
  
"Have you had lunch yet?"  
  
"Nooo," said Harry.  
  
"Meet me in the mess hall in five minutes?'  
  
"Uhh, Tom," Harry began.  
  
"C'mon," said Tom. "It'll be one of our last meals together on Voyager. You know, just like old times."  
  
"Fine," sighed Harry, putting away his clarinet.  
  
&&  
  
Just like old times. Right, Tom.  
  
Old times, for Tom and Harry, were normally (if anything qualified as normal on Voyager) a nice, disgusting meal in the mess hall, with Tom making fun of something inbetween complaints about the meal for the evening. Typically, something was either Harry's long strings of failed relationships, Harry's clarinet (this had eventually driven him to start the saxophone, which Tom considered much less annoying), or some aspect of Harry's character (his gullibility, his eagerness, and his over-achieving tendencies, to name a few). In the early years, B'Elanna had rolled her eyes at the two of them  
  
Tonight, the food was palatable, Tom was silently grinning, and Miral was there instead of B'Elanna.  
  
...and something in Tom's grin told Harry that he was planning something.  
  
Again.  
  
Which always meant disaster.  
  
"So, have you talked to anybody from Earth yet?" said Tom suddenly.  
  
"Yeah, my parents and Libby," said Harry.  
  
"Ooh, Libby," said Tom. "What did she have to say?"  
  
"She just said hi," said Harry suspiciously. "Why?"  
  
"Oh, no reason," said Tom nonchalantly. "Are you two getting together for lunch anytime?"  
  
"Um, Tom," said Harry. "Like I told you years ago, Libby's married."  
  
"Married?" repeated Tom dumbly.  
  
"Yeah, married," said Harry.  
  
"Who'd she marry?"  
  
"Um, why does it matter?" said Harry. The last thing he needed was another girl to add to the long list of failed relationships...  
  
"That bad, huh?"  
  
"Worse," muttered Harry. "She married Danny Byrd?"  
  
"Wait," said Tom, confused. "You lost a girl to B'Elanna's old nemesis?"  
  
"No," said Harry, "I lost a girl to my old best friend."  
  
"Ouch," said Tom, wincing. "So what's it now? A hologram..."  
  
"...a borg, the wrong twin, a terrorist, and various others who can't be explained in so few words," finished Harry dully.  
  
"I was just remembering them all this morning," said Tom. "Remember how you chewed me out in sickbay for saying the wrong thing to Seven?"  
  
"Oh, god," said Harry, "don't even remind me."  
  
"It wasn't that bad," said Tom. "I mean, compared to that planet of women to mated and then killed..."  
  
"No, Seven was worse," said Harry.  
  
Tom gave Harry a decidedly fake laugh.  
  
Harry raised an eyebrow.  
  
"That was a good one, Harry," said Tom quickly. "I mean, Seven? Worse than the planet of beautiful killer women?"  
  
"You don't know the half of it, Tom," said Harry, sticking his fork in his (replicated) apple pie and trying not to think about... that night.  
  
"Oh?" said Tom inquisitively.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. He was not telling Tom that story.  
  
"What happened, Harry?" asked Tom.  
  
"Look, it was nothing major," said Harry. "We were just in the mess hall, and I was trying to be nice to her, and..."  
  
Harry was interrupted by a loud crash.  
  
"What now?" muttered Tom.  
  
"All senior officers, please report to the bridge," came the Captain's voice over the comm.  
  
"Well," said Harry as they both stood up, "it wouldn't be Voyager if something didn't go wrong now."  
  
"I'm just disappointed I don't get to hear the end of that story," said Tom.  
  
"I figured," said Harry. 


	3. In which Chakotay crashes the ship

There's Something About Harry  
  
Chapter Three  
  
by starstruck  
  
Author's Note: For some reason, I always end up writing this story on my Apple computer, which makes the italics I make go away. So, sorry. I'll leave the emphasis stuff up to you. =)  
  
I've been on a writing brain for the past few days, so, I mean, you know. Yay. I might actually get the next chapter out with good timing. For once.  
  
And I'm sorry, I know I have short chapters... but, um... so?  
  
&&  
  
Of course, they should've expected the last minute hitch. After all, they were on Voyager, and everyone knew Voyager was a danger magnet. About ninety percent of the aliens in the Delta Quadrant had tried to kill them as soon as Voyager was in weapons range, and the majority of the remaining ten percent had tried to kill them after getting to know them.  
  
And if that didn't clue them in, the fact that the Captain had placed Chakotay at the helm should have. At this point, everyone knew that letting Chakotay pilot anything was an invitation to disaster. In fact, under normal circumstances, some of the crew would most certainly have questioned that decision. But they had all been giddy - most from their arrival in the Alpha Quadrant, Tom from his daughter's arrival on Voyager - and they had carelessly forgotten that Chakotay was at the helm.  
  
The Captain had even let him continue piloting on the ship after Alpha shift was over.  
  
But there was no point in worrying too much about it. The past was best left to the past. Unfortunately, in this past, Chakotay had managed to crash the ship into the docking clamps of Utopia Planitia.  
  
As if Voyager wasn't on the Federation newscasts enough already.  
  
Of course, the Engineers of the station were the ones who took care of the damage to the station and to Voyager - so that the legendary ship's crew could have a few days to meet with family before the debriefings began.  
  
Of course, as good a plan as this sounded, the last few days had gone downhill for Tom Paris for several key reasons:  
  
a) B'Elanna was in a bad mood because the Captain wouldn't let her help with the repairs, b) B'Elanna was in an even worse mood after being introduced to Libby and her husband - as it turned out, Harry's old best friend Danny Byrd was, in fact, B'Elanna's childhood enemy and the creator of the nickname Miss Turtlehead, c) Tom had not managed to break the news about helping Seven win Harry over to B'Elanna because it would put her in a worse mood, even though he knew that she would be even more irritated at him for not telling her when the time finally did come d) Harry had taken to playing clarinet again, in preparation for seeing his parents - in the past, Tom had found it slightly irritating, but for some reason, now, it was downright annoying, e) Harry had a crush on one of the Utopia Planitia engineers, f) Shockingly, said Utopia Planitia engineer had a crush on Harry, g) Tom was, for some unfathomable reason, feeling very, very sorry for Seven - sometimes he wished he was less sympathetic to poor, tortured souls in love - or, well, something like it.  
  
And despite the sappy reunion he had had with his own family, it was turning out to be in a very bad week.  
  
And it had taken a turn for the worse when B'Elanna had mentioned Harry and Angela (his engineer friend) were coming over for dinner.  
  
"What?" said Tom.  
  
"I said, Harry and Angela are coming over for dinner tonight," said B'Elanna absentmindedly.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"What do you mean, why?"  
  
"I mean, why are they coming? Did you invite them?"  
  
"Yes," said B'Elanna. "Look, Tom, if it's really a big deal, I'll - "  
  
"No, no, they can come," said Tom.  
  
"But..." said B'Elanna.  
  
"It's just, I already invited someone over for dinner."  
  
Okay, so technically he hadn't, but he figured Seven of Nine would like to participate in their nice, friendly dinner with Harry and... Angela.  
  
"Whom?" said B'Elanna.  
  
"Uh... Seven," said Tom.  
  
"Seven," repeated B'Elanna.  
  
"Yeah," said Tom.  
  
"...I don't think we've ever eaten anything with Seven," said B'Elanna.  
  
"Well," countered Tom. "There was that one time she joined us after we came out of stasis."  
  
"Right," said B'Elanna. "So we've eaten with her... once. About three years ago."  
  
"Well," said Tom. "Maybe we should start now."  
  
"Why?" said B'Elanna, clearly annoyed.  
  
"Because... she's part of our Voyager family," said Tom. He wondered if that sounded as stupid to B'Elanna as it did to him.  
  
"Right," said B'Elanna, in a voice that was half sarcasm and half confusion. "Well, I guess... they can all come to dinner."  
  
"Sounds good," said Tom. And it did. It would give Seven a chance to formulate a plan of attack before Harry and Angela became too deeply involved.  
  
She was going to need a good one. 


	4. In which Neelix reveals all

There's Something About Harry Chapter 4 By starstruck  
  
Note: Ew, sorry I've been so neglectful. I fall in and out of obsessions waayyyyy to quickly.  
  
This chapter is a little weird. It kindof flowed out, but not in the really good way. Which is why the Neelix/Tom friendship is kindof really off. I'm going to blame it on typical male one-upping. In any case, try to ignore it, and hopefully the next chapter (the dinner!) will be sooner and faster.  
  
--  
  
        One day, Tom speculated, he'd like to know how he got himself into these things.  
  
        B'Elanna had insisted that they cook the meal themselves. She had stated it quite clearly. The trick, of course, was interpreting her words. Luckily Tom was quite the expert.  
  
        First of all, she meant that he would cook the meal. Not that he was really a good cook, in fact, he was absolutely average, but B'Elanna managed to burn everything she tried to make, and that was unacceptable.  
  
        Second, no pizza. Pizza was a replicator food. He didn't see why not, though. Harry liked pizza just fine, Seven would tolerate it, and what did he care what Angela liked?  
  
        The simple fact was, he needed Neelix. He had more important things to do than make dinner. And while Neelix's touch was familiar and easily ignorable to himself, B'Elanna, Harry, and Seven, Angela would probably find it disgusting.  
  
        Good old Neelix.  
  
        "Hey, B'Elanna," he called.  
  
        "Mm?" she called.  
  
        "Miral and I are going out," he said.  
  
        "Where?"  
  
        "Astrometrics. We'll be back soon."  
  
&&  
  
        If Seven was surprised to see Tom and Miral stroll casually into her private domain, she didn't show it.  
  
        "Lieutenant Paris," she acknowledged.  
  
        "Hey, Seven," he said. "Can we talk to Neelix with that, um, transmittor relay?"  
  
        "You wish to establish contact with the Delta Quadrant?"  
  
        "Yeah, you know, how we used to talk to our families..."  
  
        "I am aware of what you were referring to," she said, already at her station, her fingers jumping calmly across the panel. "You have come at precisely the right time, Lieutenant Paris. The technology you wish to use only functions for eleven minutes each day. As it is, you will have approximately seven point six four minutes to speak with Mr. Neelix. Taking into account, of course, the time it will take for him to reach his relay station.  
  
        "Of course," said Tom, biting back a grin.  
  
        Neelix's hairy face appeared immediately.  
  
        "It appears you miscalculated," said Tom.  
  
        "My approximation was by no means definite," she said. "You now have approximately eight point four eight minutes to speak to Mister Neelix. Do you wish for privacy?" she asked.  
  
        "Er, sure," said Tom.  
  
        "I will return," she told him before exiting.  
  
        Neelix was already grinning when Tom turned back to him.  
  
        "Is this...?"  
  
        "Miral," Tom said. "Say hi to your Uncle Neelix, honey."  
  
        Miral stared.  
  
        "She's not much for conversation yet," frowned Tom.  
  
        "She's beautiful, Tom," said Neelix, understanding perfectly.  
  
        "Thanks," said Tom, fully aware of it. "Sorry I didn't come earlier, but it's been a busy couple of days, what with getting home, Chakotay crashing the ship, and Seven liking Harry and all..."  
  
        "Seven and Harry?"  
  
        Had he just said that?  
  
        "What?"  
  
        "Well, you just said – " began Neelix.  
  
        He really had to stop blurting things out. Bad habit, really.  
  
        "Well, um, yeah, actually. Seven and Chakotay were... involved – I know, you knew that – anyway, they um, broke up. And then she came up to me and asked for advice. Rumor is that the Captain and Chakotay – "  
  
        "– have finally gotten on with it already?" inquired Neelix.  
  
        "Um, yeah," said Tom, for lack of any other word to say.  
  
        "You know, that was the Captain's problem – she never had any real competition for the Commander's affections," sighed Neelix.  
  
        "Yea – wait. Seven said – "  
  
        "Did she?"  
  
        "You wanted – "  
  
        "Did I? Oh, don't look so stunned, Tom."  
  
        "I'm not stunned. I am totally, totally confused. I mean, really confused. What the hell is going on here?"  
  
        "Oh, well. I just figured since you were failing abysmally at the matchmaking on board ship..."  
  
        "I was not!" protested Tom.  
  
        "...I could certainly take on another job. Besides, ship's matchmaker couldn't be that hard, could it? In any case, I convinced Seven than Chakotay was right for her, and she went after him, and now, the Captain and Chakotay are together after all these years."  
  
        "That's one couple. I've made six."  
  
        "And how many of yours have lasted?"  
  
        Tom frowned. Neelix kindof had him there. The six couples he had managed to get together hadn't been as perfect for each other has he had originally assumed. Although Jenkins and Molina had lasted two whole weeks before breaking up. It was almost a record.  
  
        Still, Neelix couldn't win this argument. Because that would just be wrong.  
  
        "How do you know yours will?" asked Tom smugly.  
  
        "Because one of them already has."  
  
        Now Tom was really confused.  
  
        "You and B'Elanna." Neelix clarified before Tom had spoken a word.  
  
        "You did not get us together," said Tom indignantly.  
  
        "I didn't. I kept you from breaking up," said Neelix.  
  
        "There is no way..." Tom began, but Seven chose that moment to re-enter Astrometrics.  
  
        "You have approximately point four eight seven minutes remaining in your conversation. You may wish to wrap up your conversation."  
  
        "Did you just say 'wrap up'?" Neelix asked.  
  
        "Seven, are you feeling okay?" asked Tom.  
  
        Seven merely raised an eyebrow and silently turned to a console.  
  
        "Oh, Neelix, I forgot, can you send me the leola root stew recipie? Er. Craving."  
  
        "Did you check the database? I thought there was a copy..."  
  
        "Oh. Right," said Tom. "Well, talk to you later, Neelix."  
  
        Neelix was about to reply when the picture fizzled out.   
  
&&  
  
        Of course, after talking to Neelix, getting Harry and Seven together wasn't so much a matter of feeling bad for Seven as it was before. Now it was more of a matter of matchmaker pride. Because Harry and Seven would be the perfect couple, and they would get married and have lots and lots of children, which was, of course, the happiest ending for a matchmaker. He actually was really concerned about losing his position as the ship's best matchmaker (ignoring the fact that Neelix wasn't on the ship anymore) – because none of his couples had succeeded in the long run, and even though Neelix's claims that he had shaped the relationship between Tom and B'Elanna were absolutely ridiculous, Tom couldn't deny that he had had something to do with the Captain and Chakotay's newfound love.  
  
        Which was horrible, because Tom had spent so much energy getting them together. And the matchmaking credit was actually going to Neelix.  
  
        And even though the relationship still had the potential to fail, Tom had serious doubts about that. Everyone on Voyager knew that Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were absolutely destined to get married and have lots and lots of children.  
  
        So, credit to Neelix.  
  
This time.  
  
--  
  
I'm totally assuming that the system they used in Author, Author works to communicate with Neelix. I mean, if it works between the Quadrants then, it should work now, right? Hey, if they can make up stuff up, so can I.  
  
...yeah. Okay. 


End file.
